Our Place

Even as I walked up the driveway, I could hear the commotion behind the closed doors. My house could be chaos sometimes. I had a brother with autism, which could make things hard sometimes, especially when he'd have one of those attacks with lots of crying and screaming from overstimulation or lack of control and my parents fought other times, which from the sounds of things, is what was happening now. They always get over it, given time, but initially they go at each other, all guns blazing, like now.


I can tell me brother's not here, this would have sent him into a frenzy. He's probably still at his after school program, Lucky thing too, something like this, one of our parents' screaming matches would set him off and the noise would be a whole lot louder. Everything would be a lot worse. Because then not only would they be fighting, but Mum and Dad would have to stop in order to calm him down, then their fight would resume, and so the cycle would go on. I shake my head. That's not happening, so there is no need to worry myself thinking about it.


Taking a deep breath, I reach out clasping the door handle and slowly turning it, opening the door. I slip inside, closing the door behind me. The brief creak as the door opened and closed is nothing compared to the screaming. I drop my school bag by the door and kneel down in front of it, unzipping a section and pulling my book from inside. Clutching it to my chest with one arm, I zip the bag back up with the other and rise to my feet.


I look around, and as if by a magnet, my eyes are drawn immediately to Lilly, the family dog, standing motionless amidst the chaos. Her eyes meet mine and they are wide with panic. I reach her with a few long strides across the room and scoop her up in my free arm. As I carry her away, I feel the continuous, un relenting thud as her heart beats with my hand.


The moment her feet touch the soft sheets of my bed, she calms. Her eyes sparkle as I settle myself vertically along the bed and when I turn to look at her, her tail is wagging. She is happy to see me, just as I am happy to see her. We are happiest together. I pat on the bed and without hesitation, she comes closer to me, beginning to lick my hand as I stretch my arm across her back and around her, pulling her close. With me free arm, I open my book and I begin to read. The noises of screams soon fades away and if it weren't for the feel of Lilly's soft fur under my arm, and her warm tongue as it licks my hand, I would be lost completely somewhere else. Her tail wags gently, falling against my legs every so often and I begin to smile. This is our place.